NBA: No Kevin Durant yet, but Devin Booker, Suns skip past Pacers
FILE–Devin Booker #1 of the Phoenix Suns. Christian Petersen/Getty Images/AFP
All five Phoenix starters scored in double figures and the visiting Suns never trailed en route to a 117-104 win over the Indiana Pacers on Friday in Indianapolis.
Phoenix came into Friday’s contest a day removed from acquiring Kevin Durant in a trade that sent Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Jae Crowder to Brooklyn. The 10-time All-NBA honoree Durant was not available to play against the Pacers, but the Suns did not need him with a balanced scoring effort and stifling defense overwhelming struggling Indiana.
Chris Paul scored 19 points and dished nine assists, while Devin Booker — appearing in just his second game since leaving the Suns’ Christmas Day game less than five minutes in — went for 21 points and five assists.
Deandre Ayton scored a game-high 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the floor and grabbed 11 rebounds. Josh Okogie scored 17 points, and Torrey Craig complemented his game-high 12 rebounds with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field.
Ish Wainright added his second consecutive double-figure scoring performance coming off the bench — and second double-figure scoring game all season — with 13 points.
Devin Booker's message to fans after the KD trade.#WeAreTheValley | @SweetJames pic.twitter.com/PchpNaCE5v
— Bally Sports Arizona (@BALLYSPORTSAZ) February 11, 2023
Bennedict Mathurin came off the bench to score a team-high 22 points in the Pacers’ third consecutive loss and 14th defeat over the last 16 games.
Tyrese Haliburton scored 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor, but he passed for less than half of his league-leading assists average of 10.3 with five. Andrew Nembhard led all players with 10 assists, but he went scoreless on 0-of-5 shooting.
Phoenix faced little resistance in securing its 10th win over the last 13 games. A 16-2 scoring run midway through the first quarter gave the Suns an early cushion, then a 12-5 surge over the final 4:40 of the second quarter snuffed out an Indiana rally that cut the gap to six points.
The Phoenix lead never dipped into single digits in the second half and swelled to as many as 26 points.
Indiana went on a mini-run late to pull within the final margin of 13 points, but no closer.
Overall, the Suns held Indiana to 36-of-85 from the floor and had the Pacers below 40 percent field-goal shooting until the late fourth quarter.
